Strategic Public Relations

What Would Jesus Twitter?

It’s Friday, Easter’s right around the corner…so here’s some timely, top 10 9 Twitter fun.

What Would Jesus Twitter?
9) Rolling into Jerusalem now. The locals are really rolling out the green carpet.

8) Just got to Lazarus' house. Dude needs a shower when he wakes up.

7) Priests were all up in my grill. So I'm like: "Take it up with my Dad."

6) Moses? He’s why I blog. He was the original micro blogger. Only 10 posts in all!

5) Google Earth has a sweet hack that shows rocks in the water. Be sure to scrollmark it!

4) I'm tired of bread loaves and fish. Anyone know where I can find some fruit?

3) @ Apostles: Who's up for supper? I made reservations for 13.

2) At wedding with my Mom. Trying to catch a buzz, but the wine is pretty weak. Might need to spike it.

1) @Judas: Coming over to meet you now. Those Romans can kiss off!

For more Twitter creativity, check out Twitter poetry, or see what Twitter looks like on Flickr.

UPDATE: This is fun. Scott Monty turned my riff into a meme with What Would Sherlock Holmes Twitter? We’ve already seen What Would Lincoln Twitter? as well as Bryan Person’s What Would Lee Hopkins Twitter? Creative stuff. Jump in with your own and tag it Twittermeme.

In Austin for SXSW 2007 uploaded by miss_rogue's

tags | Twitter

What Bud.TV Should Do Before Last Call

UPDATE: AdAge tells us that sweeping changes are being made to the site to try and reverse a downward spiral in traffic. It looks like the unique registration challenge A-B faces will be the site's demise.
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Anheuser-Busch is helping prove that content, all by itself, may not be the king of online.

A-B is pumping $30 million into Bud.TV, its branded digital entertainment network. Despite original programming from Kevin Spacey and Vince Vaughn, as well as a mix of comedy, reality TV and sports, Bud.TV is falling short of its goal of 2-to-3 million monthly visits. The media are quick to point out why Bud.TV is going flat.

Registration is the site’s Achilles heel. It’s required by law, but is a pain and it walls off the site. This could get worse before it gets better as several states have petitioned A-B to make registration even tougher.

But before we put Bud.TV on, er, ice, let’s consider some ways they can still get their drink on.

Content: A-B decided not to play with the YouTube’s of the world. So you won’t find their content on other sites. OK, separation anxiety...we get that a lot in corporate America when it comes to ceding control of the message. create shorter spots to promote Bud.TV on these sites. You can’t deny their ability to quickly match good content with a broad audience.

Extensions: Bud needs to pour out pint-sized versions of Bud.TV to reach its audience online. They should create a Bud.TV widget I can add to my site highlighting the latest programs and telling visitors the shows are always on at Bud.TV (play off the concept of Happy Hours instead of Prime Time).

The site notes it’s developing a “Desktop Bud.TV.” What’s it modeled after, Pointcast? It might as well be as they’re creating a proprietary video player you can download to play Bud.TV spots on your computer. Why not give visitors the ability to send content to a standard media player as well as mobile phones and iPods? Requiring software to watch the content gives viewers one more reason not to watch it at all.

Promotion: A-B launched Bud.TV during the Super Bowl to get awareness, but shied away from online promotion. So they want awareness, but not registered viewers? You cannot expect You-Tube sized growth from a Super Bowl commercial. Little online promotion takes place. Paid search is not even under consideration at this time according to MediaPost. Wtf?! If that’s not wrong, it’s arrogant. Bud.TV needs to get the word out at other sites catering to their younger, male demographic.

Get a (Blue’s) Clue about Interface Design: I’m not a designer, I’m a user. But I think you’ll agree the Bud.TV interface could be better. It might be visually pleasing, but it's too spread out with a viewing screen that's too small, even when you zoom.

My kids love watching video online at Nick Jr’s web site. Not only does it do a better job of serving up content, you can increase screen size and go back and forth between the two quickly and easily. Yes, it’s ironic that a kid’s site is a good model for BudTV. But younger audiences are used to smaller screens and have more opportunities to tune in to online content.

There’s also plenty of mainstream media Bud.TV can emulate to create a successful space online. MTV, CNN, CBS and The New York Times have all learned from their audiences and evolved their sites.

Bud.TV’s interface should be a non-issue and its content should be easier to share so it can help spread the word to other viewers. The content may be funny and cool, but without connectivity, it doesn’t matter.

MediaPost also notes “Anheuser-Busch is in the process of bolstering Bud.TV with new features and a more aggressive marketing campaign.” They already let you send a link from a video to a friend. Well, it’s a start.

What are the Odds?
$30 million is a lot of beer money no matter who’s throwing the party—about 1,875,000 cases or >burp< 45 million cans. Bud.TV is taking a risk. But we all recommend taking risks to do meaningful, successful marketing. Hopefully A-B changes the site in time to make Bud.TV a success.

RELATED: Brew Tube: The New York Times
Brands and Online Video—Seven New Rules: Influx Insights

tags | Bud.TV | YouTube | Anheuser-Busch | Budweiser | advertising | marketing | online video | brand

Friday Flickr Fix – 03.23.07 – Art Norouz

Searching for an inspirational Flickr pic, I started paging through images tagged with spring. This one caught my eye.

It's not an Easter pic. These eggs are too cool for hiding anyway. They're for a Norouz celebration. According to Wikipedia:

"Norouz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian year as well as the beginning of the Bahá'í year.

It is celebrated by some communities on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which may occur on March 20th, 21st or 22nd.

So a belated Happy Norouz to you!

TEASER: Faithful readers new and old. Stay tuned for relevant content in the form of a post on Bud.tv.

"Norouz" is coming! uploaded by alirezanajafian

tags | Norouz

Comment Spam Returns, Typepad Captcha STILL Useless

“Third verse same as the first…”

The comment spam I'm receiving is ridiculous.

To my readers that are also bloggers and have switched platforms, we need to talk.

My site could use a new interface, so why not suck it up and move the whole thing to a dedicated URL on a new platform?

I’ve got a dotcom-era, vanity URL burning a hole in my pocket. Maybe I should launch kevindugan.com/prblog?

Any feedback from fellow nerds folks familiar with the ups and downs that come with a switch from Typepad to Wordpress would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. We now return you to our regularly scheduled program.

tags | typepad | wordpress | captcha sucks

Friday Flickr Fix – 03.16.07 – Neon Brain Freeze

This picture, not the weather forecast, tells me spring is here (not to mention daylight savings time and March Madness).

Instead of hitting Dairy Queen to celebrate warmer weather, my family prefers local soft serve ice cream stands.

Zip Dip is my favorite. It’s been giving kids brain freezes for 60 years and recently escaped an uncertain future.

Spring is here uploaded by prblog

tags | ice cream | Cincinnati | Dairy Queen | neon sign

Four Links — 03.15.07 — Fire Watch on Flickr, Define Viral, Write for WIRED and Come Around to Twitter

1) Los Angeles Fire Department’s Flickr Stream:   Russell Davies
Why would Joe Corporate want to post photos online and share them with the world?

Does Joe’s company do anything that could be considered even remotely cool or interesting? Posting images to an online photo sharing site allows Joe’s company to share these experiences with quick, visual stories.

2) It’s Viral! In a good way:   Multiple Sources
The first time I saw the word viral used in the online context was to explain Hotmail’s success. The free e-mail’s mandatory sig file advertisements encouraged recipients to sign up for their own account.

Since then viral’s meaning has been disfigured more than Joan Rivers. Gapingvoid’s Hugh Macleod credits “certain top-down meatheads in the ad biz” for giving viral a bad name.

Ad Age’s Ken Wheaton points to the perfect example of its misuse while Feed Company tries to correct the situation with their Social Video 101 presentation (Via Adrants). Download and study up.

3) Assignment Zero:   PressThink
Wanna write for Wired Magazine? Assignment Zero is the latest pro-am journalism project from NewAssignment.Net. Check out the web site and the news release for more information.

Yep, an online citizen journalism project issued a news release. Hah!

4) Twitter Love + Hate:   Logic+Emotion
David Armano, the undisputed king of the infographic, shows me why Twitter is worth trying out. Once the giddiness over it dies down perhaps I will give it a go. The whole thing smacks of time drain, short attention span theatre. Super-related, bonus link segue: Wired Magazine on One-Minute Media and the Minifesto.

Car Into Pool in Woodland Hills uploaded by LAFD

tags | viral video | Twitter | Assignment Zero

Martha Stewart’s Bluelines Turns on Comments, Joins the Conversation

A sharp-eyed Dmitry Linkov pointed out that Bluelines, MSLO’s Blueprint magazine blog, has enabled comments and officially joined the conversation.

As you’ll see by the picture to the right, I’m not taking credit. I’m just glad the Blueprint editors are taking full advantage of their blog.

some info, myspace style uploaded by dorsia

tags | Martha Stewart | Bluelines | Blueprint

Twitter Hater

My first contribution to the Twitter conversation was this visual.

Then I realized my angst has nothing to do with Twitter. Thousands of geeks texting random thoughts and keeping us up on their mundane status probably has value. I’m the first to admit I’ve been wrong about these things before.

But Freud would have a field day with this phenomenon. Boys, step away from the keyboard, put down the key pad once and awhile. Give the little guy a rest (your thumb that is).

No, it’s not Twitter bugging me. It’s the effusive glee that’s annoying me as blog post upon blog post fills my RSS reader with accounts of grown men being reduced to giddy/clubby school children. These are bloggers I subscribe to and read regularly…folks I (still) respect.

That said, I wondered how fast the Twitter buzz is spreading. I only read a fraction of the feeds out there. Technorati and BlogPulse helped me put it all in context.

Twitter has ramped up quickly as part of the conversation. But comparatively this specific conversation is taking place in a tighter circle than we I realize.

Phew. OK, so It’s early and I simply have the “Look! Shiny! Blues.”

For a second there I thought I was going to have to sell my house and start worshipping Evan Williams full-time.

Hate the game, not the players bloggers.

tags | Twitter | Twitter Hater | social media

Is Your Marketing Soundtrack Punk or Disco?

While I’m finishing the book, I wanted to do a quick post about “Punk Marketing: Get off your ass and join the revolution.” Richard Laermer, my cohort in crime at the Bad Pitch blog, wrote it with Mark Simmons.

Why post now? Business books take me awhile to get through compared to non-fiction. However the book is interesting--seemingly everywhere I turn online, I’m reading more about it.

The book’s premise is that your marketing should be what punk was to disco. Punk rock was the unconventional answer to the mainstream disco.

The authors focus on 15 key points and illustrate them with recent examples. The 15 point Manifesto is even broken out separately from the book along with some other online goodies you’ll find to complement the book.

Punk Marketing takes into account what some of us already know—the relationship between marketer and consumer has changed. It’s about connecting with them and not interrupting their lives. It’s about giving them control of the brand. It’s experimental and requires you to take risks.

The book’s promotion is in line with this premise and has taken on a life of its own at Adrants. To show this is not your average business book, several NSFW “comic strips” have been created. More specifically, Cleo and Anna disrobe on YouTube while reading excerpts from the book.

On my behalf, Richard asked Anna why she was stripping to help promote a business book.

"I am just an innocent girl who cares a lot about marketing. For too long I feel that corporations have taken us little old consumers for granted and, while I'm not an expert (I just play one in this commercial), my opinion is that marketing has allowed itself to become so dull.

"Let's add some sexiness back into this profession. No, not THAT profession, I mean marketing. Let's do stuff that breaks through and delivers its message in a clear simple way that people want to hear and see. See? If it takes me taking my clothes off to get attention then so be it. It's not that I've got anything to hide."

With more than 100,000 views for the entire campaign, the YouTube promotion is connecting with a very horny specific demographic. But I can tell you the book offers something for anyone in marketing that knows they need to change what they’re doing.

some of my books~ uploaded by brzy40_2000

tags | public relations | PR | advertising | marketing | Punk Marketing | Richard Laermer

Sony Launches Virtual World for PlayStation

Second Life Haters, it’s time to shift gears. PSFK tips us to Playstation Home, a new virtual world from Sony for the PS3.

Playstation Home is touted as the stereotypical blonde version of Second Life—dumbed down and prettier (did I just type that?).

Perhaps more realistic visuals in a simple-to-use virtual world will translate into fewer people complaining about it and more people actually using it?

tags | Playstation | PS3 | Sony | Second Life | marketing